The substitution of fossil-based monomers in the thermosetting formulations is a fundamental issue to face the environmental concerns related to the use of traditional resins. In this paper, styrene-free thermosetting resins were prepared to start from vegetable oils with different compositions and unsaturation degrees, namely soybean, hempseed, and linseed oils. Using terpenic comonomers such as limonene and β-myrcene allows one to prepare thermosets avoiding the traditional fossil-based diluents such as styrene, thus obtaining an outstanding gain in terms of both environmental and safety concerns. Furthermore, the materials obtained reveal tunable physical properties upon the proper choice of the monomers, with glass transition temperature ranging from 40 to 80 °C and Young's modulus ranging from 200 to 1800 MPa. The possibility of preparing composite materials starting from the resins prepared in this way and natural fibres has also been explored due to the potential applications of bio-based composites in several industrial sectors.
Keywords: biocomposites; biomaterials; terpenes; thermosets; vegetable oils.